


Shikako and the Shadows

by DreamOfStories



Series: The Catnap Collection [5]
Category: Doctor Who, Naruto
Genre: Clan Secrets, Dreaming of Sunshine - Freeform, Scary Summons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-28
Updated: 2015-10-28
Packaged: 2018-04-28 16:10:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5096936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamOfStories/pseuds/DreamOfStories
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because as terrifying as they are, they are also the perfect Nara summons. And Shikako isn't terrifying enough on her own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Mwah Ha Ha.

A week after adding team training to my schedule, I felt like screaming. I was operating on less than five hours sleep; had dropped all of my own projects even the interesting ones. I hadn't had a chance to see any of my friends except Ino and that was a joint exercise for sensory training. Honestly, I was so busy... and if that was all it was I might have appreciated the effort my teachers were going to and been glad. Only, it wasn't. On top of that, there was my beloved twin.

He wouldn't leave me alone! I tried ok? I tried to understand where Shika was coming from, that he had been hurt and worried, but he didn't get it - he wasn't even trying to get it - and I was through with his... his... I was through with him. Just, just for the rest of the day. It was my first chance for a break in over a week and I was NOT going to waste it arguing with him and getting upset. I was going to look after myself, do something I enjoyed - put myself first - like Ino had suggested. I was going to go somewhere quiet and safe and just... just breath. Then when I'd calmed down from my last argument maybe I'd feel like going over the notes I'd all but abandoned, or I could read one of the books I kept sealed on my person and hadn't had a chance to look at for a month... Right now, I could do anything because this was my time and if Shikamaru had a problem with that then too bad.

Taking a deep breath, I slipped into the Nara woods. It had been a while since I had been here last. I remember when Dad had bought me here with Shikamaru the first time. It had been kind of awe inspiring even back then. The warning that only Naras could wander around her safely after dark just made it cooler - even as we promised not to invite anyone to come camping after dark. Even now, when I felt like a wobbly stack of cards just waiting to fall down, the peaceful calm was just like I remembered. The shadows, even now in the brightness of mid-afternoon, left a maze of black shapes and webs scattered through the forest. A cool breeze blew over my skin, and I felt a little more of the tension that still thrummed through me melt away.

Yes, coming here had been a good idea.

Toying with my pendant, I idly considered the cold feel of the stone beneath my palm. It was perfectly smooth, either worn into shape over time or manipulated into a perfect sphere and left for me by the Spirit. The chakra I'd been gradually feeding it was completely hidden, even from my newly sharpened senses. If it was a gift, a thank you for freeing it... I stilled, remembering the safety, the peace, the endless stretch of light... My hand clenched reflexively. I didn't regret it. I didn't. I had come back for Shika and no matter how much of an overbearing idiot he was being with his constant poking and prodding... He was still my twin and I still loved him. I just wished he could trust me a bit more, let me recover long enough to regain my equilibrium so I could talk about it without falling to pieces. I wished... I wished I could trust him as I had when we were younger, to read me as easily as I read him, to back me up when I needed him...

...And not to stalk me when I just wanted to be alone!

I'm not sure what happened next. I was angry, frustrated and didn't want to see him. I wanted... I'm not sure what I wanted. To hide, maybe? Maybe nothing would have happened if I hadn't been holding the stone, but I was. I just... I pulled as much of my chakra into a tight ball as I could. Only, I was also feeding chakra into the stone. We were connected, and when I pulled my chakra in, I pulled the chakra I had stored in the stone out.

I'd long got past the instinctual panic of parts of me suddenly being replaced by shadows. I'd even got as far as turning part of my chest into shadow and back in a particularly daring moment. If I stayed calm, if I didn't panic, then when I released the chakra my body wouldn't be panicking either. There would be no sign I had just been a shadow at all. None of that changed the fact I had consciously decided not to do this again until I had more time. None of that changed the fact I wasn't expecting the cool wispiness as I faded to shadow.

Shikamaru had stopped as if puzzled, before - carefully - he moved a little faster in my direction. Narrowing my non-existent eyes, I stepped backwards into the trees, deeper into a particularly dark shadow. Part of me was quietly freaking out over what I'd done, worrying that holding the transformation - risking a full transformation sooner than I'd wanted to - would do me some sort of harm. The larger part of me was watching my twin. He... as less than a meter from me now and he had no idea where I was. He was looking around the clearing, eyes sharp, posture straight, and his eyes just skimmed over the shadows she was in with no sign of recognition. He couldn't sense me. At all.

For about a little while, he just stood there: still, silent, patient. Maybe he was waiting for me to reveal myself, to slip up, to stop hiding. I didn't. I was curious now. How long could I hold this? How long could I stay hidden?

Five minutes later, Shika turned and left. I remained, holding onto this strange form for a little longer before I felt... something... stretch or shift? It wasn't something I'd done. I wasn't sure why I thought that, either. Just that, it was like something I hadn't noticed was watching me had shifted - and I'd caught the movement out the side of my eye. I suddenly had a strong feeling that I wasn't as alone as I thought, and strangely, that what I wasn't alone with approved of me. Then it nudged me, and I lost the shadow form out of shock. Only, I didn't change back.

'Not yet. Don't leave us just yet.'

I swallowed or would have if I was solid. I couldn't shout in this form. I couldn't make a noise. I was... insubstantial... a shadow. It reached for me, the presence, as cool and soothing as the forest. In fact, now I thought about it, it felt exactly like the forest, or maybe the forest felt like it. It was familiar, and safe or Dad would never have let us play here unsupervised before we were old enough to leave the compound. Perhaps that's why I reached back. Perhaps not. Either way, it was pleased and the fact that I could feel that fascinated me.

'Hello, Cousin of Shadows.'

'...Hello?' My words came out clumsily, slurred almost. I didn't understand how I was talking, only that I was.

'You are like us but not like us. Like your ancestors were like us but not like us.'

'Because I am a shadow?'

It laughed again. 'Yes. In the Shadows, we are one.'

Then it shifted and almost opened? I couldn't think of a word for it, but suddenly I could feel - not it, but them. I could feel all of them, through out the whole forest. Some were almost dormant as they drifted through sunbeams. Some were active, hunting down a field mouse, toying with it almost. A few were stalking some academy children that had wandered over our borders. I could feel their thoughts, the boundaries that had been imposed of them and their hunger. The children were safe until dark. Then, if they were still there...

The swarm... And it was a swarm... Tugged gently at my attention and I wandered if this was what it was like for Shino with his kikai bugs. They shared with me a place, a... nest... hidden by seals, old Nara blood seals. I knew, just as I knew what the swarm were doing, that these seals would no longer keep me out, and that in the centre of the nest was a scroll.

'You will go there. You will look. We have decided. We have chosen.'

Almost against my will (but not, because I was curious, because in the end I was moving myself) I drifted deeper into the forest and then after a surprisingly short time, into the shadowy nest. I became human again in a pitch black cave and summoned my chakra light. The darkness was so dense, it barely made a dent, then the swarm shifted and I could see the summoning scroll.

Because that was what it was. A summoning scroll, one that from the looks of it, did not have a living summoner. A summoning scroll for creatures that lived and thrived in the shadows. A summoning scroll, that was almost ideal for a Nara. I laughed, all the worries and anger of the day disappearing as the creatures shifted around me, dancing in and out of my flickering chakra light. Even the terms were reasonable - the Vashta Nerada would have free run of the Nara forest during the night time hours, feeding on any living thing they wanted except for humans with Nara blood or the Clan's deer and in return they would answer any summoner of the Nara clan. There were other qualifiers, a couple of points on what they wouldn't and would do... But it was all simple, obvious stuff. The only major catch was that the scroll could not leave the nest, and the potential summoner could only pass the seals when they were transformed shadows. I could understand why they hadn't been summoned in so long.

I signed.

I don't know what I was expecting, but nothing earth shattering happened. I was still me, no fizzle of energy shooting through me as I pressed my bloody fingers onto the scroll. There was a flutter among my new summons though, just before they swarmed me. I took the hint and pulled on the shadow chakra again. Now I felt it. I could sense them all, and through them everything living that was close by.

'If you need us Shadow Child, call us, and we will come eat all your enemies.' There was a hesitation, and then a sense of possessive / protectiveness. 'But until you learn how to call us, some of us will accompany you.'

For the first time, I felt... nervous about all this. I wasn't sure what people would think if I turned up with a new overprotective summon, particularly a carnivorous one. They must have guessed at my thoughts, or at least sensed some of my worry.

'We will not be discovered. We will remain in your shadow.'

Yeah, because that was my concern.


	2. Chapter 2

Shikako is scouting the area round their campsite when it happens. That sound. That sound that once upon a time came from nearly every TV set in Britain. A whooshing and a wailing sound that told everyone that the Doctor was here. But this isn't Britain, and it isn't a TV show. This is the outskirts of Konoha's exclusion zone and she is on a routine (C-ranked) patrol. Geeze, what is it with Team 7 luck? Even muted by Team 8, she is still attracting trouble. The Doctor up against Shinobi idealology? A time-traveller in the hands of Shinobi? She can't think of a single way this would end well.

She takes a second to check her chakra and confirm that no, this is not a genjutsu, and then diverts from her circuit almost immediately. She won't have long. The Doctor might not register on her chakra senses but her hearing isn't the sharpest out of her squad. That claim lies with Kiba. Not to mention what Hinata would make of the Tardis... Oh god Shino. She knew his habit of tagging his teammate's with his bugs. He would know she was deviating now. They'd be conferring and turning their attention to her and...

Shikako tumbles into the clearing just as a rake thin figure with messy hair steps out of his iconic blue box. Behind her, she can feel the chakra of her fellow patrol members beginning to move in her direction and grimaces. Worse, her faithful, ever hungry, summons are stirring. She doesn't have to look down to know that her own shadow is in completely the wrong position for the current time of day. It'll be too much to hope the Doctor doesn't notice...

"Oh hello there!"

She blinks at the cheerful grin and the big coat, worn over sneakers. There is something to be said for meeting a childhood icon and it takes her half a second to shake off the feeling. "You shouldn't be here."

He tilts his head to stare at her, eyes sharpening as the grin doesn't leave his face. "I shouldn't?"

"No. You really really shouldn't."

She does her best to keep her body language subtle. As it is, she hopes and prays that Hinata isn't reading their lips. It's something that still takes the Hyuuga concentration and if she's busy evaluating the situation for her team then she won't have that concentration to spare. Probably. Either way, he needs to leave now. And not just because otherwise she will have awkward questions to answer.

"Well maybe I..." He pauses, blinks at her shadow, and pulls out his screwdriver and points it at her. "There's something up with-"

Her teammates' chakra spikes in a way that means they are preparing for trouble. Kiba is slipping to the side, and Shino's chakra is churning in a way that means he is increasing his stock of bugs rapidly. Her team is ready for a fight, and she is out of time. She lunges at the Doctor, knocking him back into the Tardis. The Doctor doesn't push her off, just rolls them around so that he's sitting on top of her, still pointing that damn screwdriver in her direction. She wriggles beneath him and glances around for something to replace with, all the while cursing Jiraya for the direction her thoughts take. And puberty. She curses puberty too.

"Hold still a second, I could swear you have... but no... they aren't like..."

Shikako stills and groans in resignation as Team 8 burst into the clearing, each ninja gathering chakra in preperation for a jutsu, their killing intent rippling outward. The Tardis seems to take this as a threat and slams its doors shut, startling the Doctor. Something slams into the doors and they rattle. Shikako is vaguely impressed, or she would be, if she wasn't watching the Tardis' central column light up.

The Doctor's standing up now, shouting at the Tardis for taking him away from such an interesting puzzle. She's lying on the floor cursing her luck and wondering how she is ever going to explain this. If Shikamaru had calmed down recently, this is going to bring those issues old right back up... And how exactly is she going to explain this? Maybe come tumbling out of the box that appears seconds after it left? Although the Doctor isn't exactly known for his excellent Tardis driving skills. Hadn't there once been a joke about him bumping into the 60s? She shuddered and pushed herself up right. It was enough to catch his attention.

Spinning around and grinning at her, the Doctor clapped his hands once. "Right so... Names. I'm the Doctor, but you already knew that. Of much more interest is who you are..?"

"I'm Shikako. Look I don't want to be rude but I need to be back there. Now. Preferably before my twin finds out I was kidnapped. Again."

"You get kidnapped a lot then?"

"No... I'm just... Good at finding trouble. I... I think that's something we have in common?"

"Yep! You've heard of me then?"

She stares at him, at the bright grin, the loose stance and her summons whisper to her of the Oncoming Storm. They remind her that appearances are deceiving, of a time they had a whole world to play in, of a forest made of books. It isn't a reminder she needs. Not really. She may have forgotten the details of his story but some characters are just too big to forget completely.

"Yeah, I've heard of you. Why were you on my world anyway?"

The Doctor tilts his head, the grin softening even as his eyes flicker. The Doctor isn't as good at hiding his thoughts as she might have thought. "Your world?"

"Well, I share it with a lot of other people, but yeah, for the purposes of this conversation, my world, my home."

The Doctor shrugs. "No idea. Got a little turned around in the Luen Nebula. Very pretty around there - but cold." He claps his hands. "So, do you know what's up with your shadow? I thought... But then that wouldn't make sense."

Shikako shrugs. "Do you know where we are now?"

He looks at her. And it's a look that says 'I'm watching you' and 'I know your hiding things' and 'I will learn all your secrets'. Then he glances at a nearby screen and the look is replaced by his 'Don't mind me' grin. He's almost as good as Kakashi-sensei at throwing off suspicion. It's easy to see why his enemies are always under estimating him. If she didn't have her summons whispering to her of everything he's done, if she didn't know he was a hero and one of the most dangerous men in the universe... It would have been easy to dismiss him as harmless herself.

"Earth. Early 2010s."

"What?"

"Where we are. You just asked right? Lost in your head a little bit? Anything to do with those interesting parasites?

She managed a rueful smile that was a little more fake than she'd have preferred. "Yeah. So. Earth. Can we go have a look around?"

"You don't want to go home?"

She considers the question. She does... But... Being here now, even if it isn't her Earth... She closes her eyes briefly to hold back the grief. No. Not quite grief. Acceptance and... Resignation? Nostalgia? She might not remember her family that well anymore; she might barely remember her old life. She might not even consider this home, not really, not anymore, but she was torn away so quickly and she's here now. It would be nice to say goodbye to a Earth. Even if it wasn't hers.

"I do, but a day to explore wouldn't hurt right?"

A day to say goodbye.

He examines her thoughtfully, before nodding, the grin softer, more subdued. "Nah, it'd probably be fine." His smile widens, "Could even be exciting, Miss Finder of Trouble!"

Shikako's lips twitch in a grin. "It could."

The Doctor's smiling properly now, but there is still that spark in his eyes. "Well. Let's see where exactly the Old Girl has bought us then."

**Author's Note:**

> So out of all the Catnap Collection, this one and the Missing Nin one are the drabbles I'm most likely to continue.  
> Although not at the moment. At the moment I am swamped with coursework.  
> Hope you enjoyed it anyway!


End file.
